Big Boy Boxing is a cartoony indie boxing dev inspired by Cuphead and the classic late 80’s NES game Punch-Out!! The concept is polished and shiny for contemporary indie players who thrive on retro quirks in new games.
You play as a new boxer, trained up through the earnest beginning in the ring with a trainer, Coach Hank. At this stage of development, the demo is pretty short with only one contender, but there are plenty of interesting observations to be made on this neat project.
I’d say it’s pretty certain by the time this is released this is going to be a very hyped game in the indie world and beyond. The project from concept to gameplay is really enjoyable and I’m ready to dive in, so let’s take a look.
This project is thanks to a collaboration between Indie Game Collective and Soupmaster Games.
Testing Gameplay in Big Boy Boxing
You might want to start with a controller if you have one because it feels more appropriate than the alternative, however, it is not required. I used a DS4. It is a surprise to have force feedback on such an early demo. It feels like a nicely accommodated feature, and it will be nice when the game is released. Players have control of a few moves. You can duck left, duck right, and duck down. These are the movement options in the boxing ring. To strike, you can try left hook, right, hook, and upper hooks to jab at your opponent. If the opponent starts to pulse yellow, you can hit the special and knock them out.
There’s only one opponent in the demo as of this article. A hobo named “The Hobo Dude.” The fight was challenging enough to stay interesting, it was easy to land the win. I’m old enough where I can admit Punch-Out!! is not a game that holds any particular nostalgia for me other than I know it was a big deal. I tried playing Punch-Out!! recently in an unrelated project. Whichever side you’re on, it’s okay, because this is a whole experience of its own that capitalized on some of the best aspects of that game.
Currently Known Features in Big Boy Boxing
- A Campaign featuring over 15 Unique boss fights, each being highly memorable.
- Customize your playstyle with different special punches, perks, skins and playable characters!
- Dialogues, Minibosses, Minigames, Rematches, and many more alternative contents to enjoy!
A Few More Thoughts on Aesthetics
There is a school of thought within the game art world, particularly amongst indies, that seems to be liberated by the fact that pixel art can still be pixel and yet high res. I thought at one point that pixel art was a walk in the park, but it’s a legit art form that requires practice. Big Boy Boxing’s character art and environment look so good. Everything is the right color and form. Areas left to the imagination fire sparks in my brain that has me overall just totally approving of this style.
Thanks
There’s going to be more to this game than people know right now, and I want to know too. The game is slated for release somewhere in 2022, but it could be later, or we’ll see what happens. I want to wish the developer good luck in their dev process, and thank them for bringing this idea.
Thank you so much for reading Mr. Dave Pizza. I’m trying to be as consistent as possible with these posts lately. Have a look around and see what there is, and if you like this, please come back! Thanks for stopping by!
